Ben,
Your link provides an excellent summary. At first glance, it appeared to be academics purporting to know what is best for Texas. If one bothers to read through the lenghty document, it becomes apparent that this is NOT the ravings of a government funded think-tank. From page 42, for our Houston friends:
"It is estimated that diversion of all rail freight to highways in Texas metropolitan areas would
increase traffic congestion (Roadway Congestion Index78) more than 20 percent.79 This would
make Houston the third-most congested urban area in the United States, compared to its actual
ranking of 26th. The impacts in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio would rank each of these urban
areas in the top ten nationally as well (Table 6). The actual impacts would probably be greater,
because the largest Texas urban areas have higher-than-average freight rail market shares
(below)."
Thanks again,
ARMSF
He also has two websites, Demographia and The Public Purpose.